The 2015 Salt Lake Comic Con offered a lot of great panels in the realm of “Star Wars,” but, in my opinion, none of them were as revelatory and fascinating as the “Why We Killed Chewie” panel.
R.A. Salvatore, who was the author behind Chewie’s death in 1999’s “Vector Prime” joined myself Michael A. Stackpole, one of the architects of the “New Jedi Order” series to talk about the decision to kill Chewbacca all those years ago.
There were a lot of fan theories circulating about how the decision was made to kill Chewbacca. The books themselves were labeled that they were approved personally by George Lucas. The book was so important to the expanded universe (now Legendary) that it even got a television commercial:
To say that it made waves would be an understatement. It flew off the shelves and then when people realized what had happened to Chewbacca, they all started to draw daggers with eyes toward Salvatore. This was a massive controversy back in the day, but now we know it’s been undone just by looking at the trailer for “The Force Awakens.”
For the first time ever, the real story of how this came about and why it happened can be told by the men who lived it.
This is seriously one of the favorite discussions I’ve ever had the privilege of sitting in on. It’s a treat for fans and non-fans alike, and if you’re interested at all in the creative podcast, this is a must listen.
You can listen in the window at the top of the page, visit the Full of Sith website, or subscribe to the show wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.